Witch Whats is a collection of whatnots for/from the witchy minded; A magick inspired blog and paranormal experience journal featuring witchcraft information from the hedge and hearth, haunting paranormal encounters, handmade ritual tools such as wands and rattles, Wicca and Pagan education, free spells and amulets to try, plus original art inspired by these topics.

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Orionid Meteor Shower

Comets and meteors have long been thought to portend a great sign or omen. Tonight provides the chance to see a whole shower of signs falling from the sky. That's probably not a UFO soaring accross the vista, but is likely the Orionid Meteor Shower!

"An increase in the number of meteors at a particular time of year is called a meteor shower. Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation.
Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall, a spot in the sky astronomers call the radiant. For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo. The Perseid meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus."

"The Orionid meteor shower is the second of two showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley's Comet. The point from where the Orionid meteors appear to radiate is located within the constellation Orion. The Orionids generally begin on October 15 and end on October 29, with maximum generally occurring during the morning hours of October 20-22. The Orionids are barely detectable on the beginning and ending dates, but observers in the Northern Hemisphere will see around 20 meteors per hour at maximum, while observers in the Southern Hemisphere will see around 40 meteors per hour."